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Introduction: Incident HIV infections persist in the United States (U.S.) among marginalized populations. Targeted and cost-efficient testing strategies can help in reaching HIV elimination. This analysis compares the effectiveness and cost of three HIV testing strategies in a high HIV burden area in the U.S. in identifying new HIV infections., Methods: We performed a cost analysis comparing three HIV testing strategies in Chicago: (1) routine screening (RS) in an inpatient and outpatient setting, (2) modified partner services (MPS) among networks of the recently HIV infected and diagnosed, and (3) a respondent drive sampling (RDS)-based social network (SN) approach targeting young African-American men who have sex with men. All occurred at the same academic medical centre during the following times: routine testing, 2011 to 2016; MPS, 2013 to 2016; SN: 2013 to 2014. Costs were in 2016 dollars and included personnel, HIV testing, training, materials, overhead. Outcomes included cost per test, HIV-positive test and new diagnosis. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of population demographics., Results: The RS programme completed 57,308 HIV tests resulting in 360 (0.6%) HIV-positive tests and 165 new HIV diagnoses (0.28%). The MPS completed 146 HIV tests, resulting in 79 (54%) HIV-positive tests and eight new HIV diagnoses (5%). The SN strategy completed 508 HIV tests, resulting in 210 (41%) HIV-positive tests and 37 new HIV diagnoses (7.2%). Labour accounted for the majority of costs in all strategies. The estimated cost per new HIV diagnosis was $16,773 for the RS programme, $61,418 for the MPS programme and $15,683 for the SN testing programme. These costs were reduced for the RS and MPS strategies in sensitivity analyses limiting testing efficacy to the highest prevalence patient populations ($2,841 and $33,233 respectively)., Conclusions: The SN strategy yielded the highest proportion of new diagnoses, followed closely by the MPS programme. Both the SN strategy and RS programme were comparable in the cost per new diagnosis. A simultaneous approach that consists of RS in combination with SN testing may be most effective for identifying new HIV infections in settings with heterogeneous epidemics with both high rates of HIV prevalence and HIV testing., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of the International AIDS Society published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International AIDS Society.)

Offering people living with HIV the opportunity to refer partners for HIV testing is an efficient way of identifying new HIV diagnoses. This report describes the outcomes of physician-led partner services at an urban academic center. Patients with HIV VL > 1000 copies/mL in both inpatient and outpatient settings were offered partner notification services (PNS). Of referred partners, 8.7% had a new diagnosis of HIV. New HIV+ partners were as likely to be referred by patients with existing HIV diagnoses as new diagnoses (p = 0.61), and as likely to be referred by patients interviewed while hospitalized as those in the clinic (p = 0.61). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many unknowns with regard to COVID-19 clinical management, including the role of Infectious Diseases Consultation (IDC). As hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue, hospitals are assessing how to optimally and efficiently manage COVID-19 inpatients. Typically, primary teams must determine when IDC is appropriate, and ID clinicians provide consultation upon request of the primary team. IDC has been shown to be beneficial for many conditions; however, the impact of IDC for COVID-19 is unknown. Herein, we discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls of automatic IDC for COVID-19 inpatients. Important considerations include the quality of care provided, allocation and optimization of resources, and clinician satisfaction. Finally, we describe how automatic IDC changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic at a single academic medical center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Baseline health status influences outcomes of severe sepsis. Objective To determine if recent infection is a marker of poor health in patients with hematologic malignant tumors and severe sepsis by modifying the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score to account for infection. Methods Medical records of the first 50 patients with hematologic malignant tumors and severe sepsis admitted from September 1, 2009 to September 1, 2014, were reviewed to derive a modified SOFA score.The predictive accuracy of the modified score was compared with that of the unmodified score and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score for the 196 subsequent patients. Results The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.66-0.80) for the modified score, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.61-0.76) for the unmodified score, and 0.65 (95% CI, 0.58-0.73) for the APACHE II score. The modified score was better for discriminating survivors from nonsurvivors than the unmodified score (P=.005) and the APACHE II score (P=.04). After adjustments for the modified score and age, only increased days from hospital to intensive care unit admission was significantly associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusion Modifying the SOFA score to account for infections before admission to the intensive care unit improved the prognostic usefulness of the scores for patients with hematologic malignant tumors and severe sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Due to the closure of surrounding city-run sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics, uninsured and underinsured patients living near an urban academic medical center have been relying on the Emergency Department (ED) for their sexual health needs. A novel Sexual Wellness Clinic (SWC) was created to provide comprehensive sexual healthcare and primary care linkage to patients presenting to the ED with STI complaints. Methods SWC-eligible patients are identified at ED intake and undergo a Medical Screening Exam (MSE) by a triage physician before transport to clinic. Notable exceptions to the SWC are patients who are pregnant, younger than 18 years of age, victims of sexual assault, or deemed to require higher acuity care. Once at the SWC, patients undergo a complete history and physical examination, comprehensive STI testing, and, if indicated, empiric treatment as well as same-day initiation of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Social services within the clinic also assist in arranging primary care follow-up either at the medical center or an affiliated Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Results During its initial 8 weeks, 28 patients were seen in the SWC; 35.6% were cis-female and 64.2% were cis-male. All female patients identified as women who have sex with men, 89% of male patients identified as men who exclusively have sex with women. Patient ages ranged from 18 to 55 with a mean age of 25. Overall, 17.8% of patients tested positive for gonorrhea; 7.1% tested positive for chlamydia, and 0% tested positive for syphilis. One new HIV diagnosis was identified. Same-day PrEP was initiated in 28.5% of patients of which 62.5% (n = 5) were female and 37.5% (n = 3) were male. SWC linked 79% of patients to primary care. Conclusion We demonstrated the feasibility of this unique workflow bringing patients from the ED to a specialized sexual health clinic. The majority of patients visiting SWC identified as heterosexual men and women, which differs from other metropolitan STI clinics. Identifying these populations with untreated STIs and other HIV risk factors for targeted intervention is integral to local and national HIV elimination efforts. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]